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Eric Clapton's Firebird I folder:

j45

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I'd love to see a photo of EC playing the 'burst during any of those shows. I've seen the one of him playing it during the Oakland soundcheck, and the one posted earlier in this thread.!


Not a whole lot of pics actually playing it on stage in '68. I know I have him playing the burst on that last tour during the show at Denver Collseum '68 and at the Spectrum on Nov. 1, 1968, as well as Oakland. A few others but can't recall exactly which right off wityhout digging. The Firebird was heavily favored from summer '68 until the end. My theory has been like yours for the past 6-7 years. Hundreds of thousands of witnesses, probably thousands of photos but no one out of many thousands that have participated in providing info has ever seen anything of the ES-335 until RAH (or at least a photo). I saw Hendrex July 20, 1968 at Independence Hakll in Baton Rouge. I swore for years he played a black, rosewood board Strat that night.... until some local photos showed up recently with a white/maple Strat at that exact show. The poster that hung over my bed must have somehow blended with my memories of that show...not the first time either...
 

schultzville

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Aug 29, 2006
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Thanks, J45 (Kerry, I believe) - by the way, I'm Alex.
That's what I understood about Nov. 2 '68 MSG- in fact, when I saw the photo of Eric carrying the two guitars down the hallway, I remembered that as being MSG. Funny, at the time, we all associated him with the SG, so the Firebird is not what we expected, maybe. And when you say a 'burst in that period, which 'burst was that? Certainly not his "beano" guitar, right?
And it seems he mostly played the Firebird, then in that period.
Glad this is getting clearer, because a few years ago when all this started about Clapton's "famous" red 335, I my first reaction was "what 335"? I saw Cream twice, once at one of the Murray The K shows where they played like 2 songs, and that was probably the SG, and then at the Garden. Revolving stage, too- no wonder I couldn't see the gear well- that and the mescaline... if you weren't there at that time, you can't possibly understand... can you possibly post that 'famous image' from MSG for me? Thanks..
 

j45

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I'd love to see a photo of EC playing the 'burst during any of those shows.

Here's a couple of quick ones:


At the Philidelphia Spectrum Nov. 1, 1968
claptonnovember168Philly_lrg.jpg


At Denver Colluseum Oct 6, 1968
claptonOct_6_68denvercolluseumlg.jpg


I made a huge blunder as my computer was crashing a couple of years ago and transfered my photo files quickly to a hard drive via a careless drag-and-drop that literally landed the files everywhere and I've yet to re-organize. I knew these two from memory but will have to search for others.
 

j45

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Jun 14, 2002
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Here's a few more quickies that Yannick33 has not included.... some are different shots from same shows as well as other 68 Cream shows. As soon as I get more uploaded to Photobucket i'll get some more FB pics up. Some of the pics in Yannuck333's posts are right after Cream broke up, some at the Super Show and some with Blind Faith (and yes, the 335 is with him on that tour).. I've got a lot of Blind Faith Firebird shots to add to the "Clapton Firebird Iolder".

claptonFB6-1.jpg


ClaptonJul1668FBI.jpg


eric18_edited.jpg


eric10.jpg


eric32w.jpg


eric26_edited.jpg


claptonFB4-1.jpg
 

Bruce R

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Mar 2, 2007
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1,029
Amazing photos!! Thanks for posting, as I don't recall ever seeing a photo of EC playing any sort of LP onstage during this era. I've said all along that I could be mistaken, but those were my recollections. I am a huge EC/Cream fan and feel very fortunate to have seen them twice during their all-to-brief existence.
 

Yannick333

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Aug 22, 2011
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Thanks for keeping this thread alive and kicking guys!! I'm loving it:dude: !
 
O

olgabowl

Guest
Not a whole lot of pics actually playing it on stage in '68. I know I have him playing the burst on that last tour during the show at Denver Collseum '68 and at the Spectrum on Nov. 1, 1968, as well as Oakland. A few others but can't recall exactly which right off wityhout digging. The Firebird was heavily favored from summer '68 until the end. My theory has been like yours for the past 6-7 years. Hundreds of thousands of witnesses, probably thousands of photos but no one out of many thousands that have participated in providing info has ever seen anything of the ES-335 until RAH (or at least a photo). I saw Hendrex July 20, 1968 at Independence Hakll in Baton Rouge. I swore for years he played a black, rosewood board Strat that night.... until some local photos showed up recently with a white/maple Strat at that exact show. The poster that hung over my bed must have somehow blended with my memories of that show...not the first time either...

OK, here's another memory from the first night at Anaheim (3/17/68) that I've carried around for years, but never has been confirmed...

I remember vividly that they did an acoustic version of "As You Said"...
I didn't recognize the song when they played it, as it hadn't been released yet...
When "Wheels of Fire" came out, I recognized it, and it became (and still is) my favorite Cream tune...

But, as the years went by, the story that I heard them play it live met with gafaws...
There is no evidence out there--on bootlegs or pics--that the song was ever played anywhere, and I began to wonder if I had just imagined the whole thing...

So-ooo yesterday, while trying to find pics of Clapton playing a 335 at Anaheim, I ran into this page, that has this description and pic:

"Also from the (Anaheim) Convention Center, Jack plays acoustic guitar during a performance of As You Said.
This may very well be the only time Cream ever performed the song live!"



AsYouSaid.jpg


I've got some pics coming from the second night at Anaheim, so we'll know soon (hopefully) what the guitar was that Clapton was playing...
It was not the Firebird or the painted SG....
 

andreja marovic

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Jun 1, 2004
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OK, here's another memory from the first night at Anaheim (3/17/68) that I've carried around for years, but never has been confirmed...

I remember vividly that they did an acoustic version of "As You Said"...
I didn't recognize the song when they played it, as it hadn't been released yet...
When "Wheels of Fire" came out, I recognized it, and it became (and still is) my favorite Cream tune...

But, as the years went by, the story that I heard them play it live met with gafaws...
There is no evidence out there--on bootlegs or pics--that the song was ever played anywhere, and I began to wonder if I had just imagined the whole thing...

So-ooo yesterday, while trying to find pics of Clapton playing a 335 at Anaheim, I ran into this page, that has this description and pic:

"Also from the (Anaheim) Convention Center, Jack plays acoustic guitar during a performance of As You Said.
This may very well be the only time Cream ever performed the song live!"



AsYouSaid.jpg


I've got some pics coming from the second night at Anaheim, so we'll know soon (hopefully) what the guitar was that Clapton was playing...
It was not the Firebird or the painted SG....

Olgabowl....:headbange :headbange :headbange
Great pics.
Many thanks for the link
I recommend to check out AGAIN and AGAIN...
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/oldtimers/1968.html

THANKS
Andreja
 

j45

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Joined
Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
But, as the years went by, the story that I heard them play it live met with gafaws...
There is no evidence out there--on bootlegs or pics--that the song was ever played anywhere, and I began to wonder if I had just imagined the whole thing...
live!"[/I]



I've got some pics coming from the second night at Anaheim, so we'll know soon (hopefully) what the guitar was that Clapton was playing...
It was not the Firebird or the painted SG....

This pics I've seen. I have a super rare pic of Clapton playing with Cream in Europe summer of '68 using his Telecaster Custom already with Brownies' neck on it!! I posted it here several years ago but will dig it up. I forget the exact date but the SG ls seen last about March 29, the next week the Firebird shows up on the Spring tour permanently. The SG makes one more appearance that May and then is probably left in England when they returned. Funny that he changes his hair from mod perm up high to straight hanging low the same week he changes from the psychedelic SG to the FB. You think he wasn't already bowing to peer pressure?
 
O

olgabowl

Guest
I forget the exact date but the SG ls seen last about March 29, the next week the Firebird shows up on the Spring tour permanently. The SG makes one more appearance that May and then is probably left in England when they returned. Funny that he changes his hair from mod perm up high to straight hanging low the same week he changes from the psychedelic SG to the FB. You think he wasn't already bowing to peer pressure?

On the two Anaheim nights, not only was it two different guitars, but two different hair styles... :)

I remember being bummed that the SG wasn't on hand, as I was very fond of that guitar from seeing it at the Whiskey...

Now to find out what the "other" guitar was...
Thanks for the memories, folks...
 

Litcrit

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May 9, 2002
Messages
5,990
This pics I've seen. I have a super rare pic of Clapton playing with Cream in Europe summer of '68 using his Telecaster Custom already with Brownies' neck on it!! I posted it here several years ago but will dig it up. I forget the exact date but the SG ls seen last about March 29, the next week the Firebird shows up on the Spring tour permanently. The SG makes one more appearance that May and then is probably left in England when they returned. Funny that he changes his hair from mod perm up high to straight hanging low the same week he changes from the psychedelic SG to the FB. You think he wasn't already bowing to peer pressure?

Aside from switching guitars, Clapton has always had the distinction (to me) of looking as different as a person can within a fairly short time frame..so many different hair styles, facial hair styles, hats, glasses, etc...I often don't recognize him.
 

Bruce R

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Mar 2, 2007
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You know, these discussions bring back to light how often these popular bands were sent on the road and performed in those days. I'd love to see the touring schedules of today's top acts and see how it compares to the grueling schedules of the 60's. No wonder so many bands broke up!
 

j45

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Messages
9,081
You know, these discussions bring back to light how often these popular bands were sent on the road and performed in those days. I'd love to see the touring schedules of today's top acts and see how it compares to the grueling schedules of the 60's. No wonder so many bands broke up!

You know for as completely different as most things are now than they were 40 years ago the one thing that really hasn't changed is the gruel of road work. There are more bands out there now than ever doing 200+ one nighters and for next to nothing once all is said and done. I won't travel for more than 4-6 hours in a day anymore but I have quite a few younger friends on major label tours I speak with on a weekly basis and pay has gotten so bad some of these incredibly skilled guys will take $100 per show as a side man just to stay busy. I'm talking about side men hired for tours with groups that have current, major radio hits.

If you want to read something that would be hilarious if it weren't so true, search for "The Problem With Music" written by the awesome Steve Albini. It's become 10 times worse in the short time since he wrote that article.
 

mistersnappy

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Jan 20, 2006
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7,321
I hope y'all don't mind me posting a couple from the Farewell Tour with the Burst:
foto_Cream_Farewell02_big.jpg

Slide2B591C-1.jpg
 

Litcrit

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You know for as completely different as most things are now than they were 40 years ago the one thing that really hasn't changed is the gruel of road work. There are more bands out there now than ever doing 200+ one nighters and for next to nothing once all is said and done. I won't travel for more than 4-6 hours in a day anymore but I have quite a few younger friends on major label tours I speak with on a weekly basis and pay has gotten so bad some of these incredibly skilled guys will take $100 per show as a side man just to stay busy. I'm talking about side men hired for tours with groups that have current, major radio hits.

If you want to read something that would be hilarious if it weren't so true, search for "The Problem With Music" written by the awesome Steve Albini. It's become 10 times worse in the short time since he wrote that article.

Amen, which is why I got out of the biz years ago (after playing weddings for years just for decent pay and less travel). The guys I know still in it either have a solid teaching position or network gig. Even the Broadway guys are complaining, there's so few musicals now that you can be 3rd call and sitting home..Never been a WORSE TIME monetarily (in recent history) to be a musician. Hootenanies anyone?
 

Bruce R

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Fantastic photo!! All the goodies, too. Here's the one I got after seeing EC back "in the day". 40+ years and 40- pounds ago!

BruceFirebird.jpg
 
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